


i don't wanna look at anything else now that i saw you

by tamquams



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Kiss, First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Ugly, Ronan-Compliant Language, chainsaw is the ultimate WINGwoman haha get it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24248194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamquams/pseuds/tamquams
Summary: Luckily, Adam did not seem angry or uncomfortable. If anything, he looked amused as he uncapped his water bottle, the corners of his mouth quirking up. “Did you just flirt with me after breaking into my apartment?”Ronan tried and failed to formulate a response to that. Thankfully, his mouth seemed to be moving of its own accord these days. “Are you telling me I shouldn’t?”
Relationships: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 33
Kudos: 300





	i don't wanna look at anything else now that i saw you

**Author's Note:**

> this is not any of the things i intended to write when i sat down, and it took me way too long for something so short and fluffy, but whatever. i hope you enjoy! p.s. title is from daylight by taylor swift ♡

Ronan Lynch was fucked. 

In retrospect, he probably should have known this would happen eventually. Having a pet raven — or a wild raven that sometimes doubled as a pet — was always going to lead to this moment, he supposed hysterically as he climbed up onto the stone ledge of his balcony railing. It was inevitable, really, that one day, one wretched day, that stupid raven would hop right off his shoulder and fly through some poor soul’s open window. He should have seen it coming.

And of course, of _course_ , Chainsaw — the stupid raven in question — couldn’t have chosen just any window: she had entered the apartment directly beside Ronan’s, the one inhabited by the beautiful stranger of a man that Ronan had developed a crush on the moment he had moved in. The exact neighbor, in fact, that Ronan spent evenings lounging on his balcony hoping to catch a glimpse of. The neighbor with the sandy hair and high cheekbones and glorious, glorious hands. Of fucking course.

It probably would have been better if Ronan had just run inside and gone next door and knocked on his neighbor’s door to tell him that a bird had just flown through his window. It was definitely the reasonable thing to do, and the safest option as well. Perhaps that was why it didn’t even occur to Ronan until he was already in the air, attempting a jump from his balcony to the next.

He barely managed to grab onto the balcony’s railing hard enough to keep from falling, and his body smacked into the stone with an unpleasant sound. He unleashed a string of curses and pulled himself up and over the railing, rolling right over it and onto his back, panting hard. 

With the commotion he had made leaping onto the balcony, he would not have been surprised to open his eyes to his neighbor standing above him, possibly calling the cops. But when Ronan pushed himself into a sitting position, and then upright, he found himself alone. The only logical conclusion to be drawn was that the apartment was empty. 

Finally, a stroke of luck.

One look through the window told him that his luck was running out fast, though: Chainsaw was standing on the counter in the kitchen, already beginning to shred what looked like an envelope.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ronan hissed, his hands gripping the edges of the window tightly. “Chainsaw, you fucker, come here. Now.” 

Chainsaw did not even acknowledge his words.

“ _Chainsaw_ ,” he demanded, sticking his head through the window. “Get _out_ of here.”

Chainsaw ripped a long strip of paper from the envelope.

“Oh, _fuck_ this,” Ronan huffed, and he hauled himself through the window.

He landed softly on the couch, a much better landing than his last, and immediately stood up and hurried across the room toward Chainsaw. “Come _here_ ,” he snapped, reaching out to her, and she immediately took flight and launched herself out of his reach.

Ronan was quickly losing his patience. “Jesus _fuck_ ,” he growled, turning to follow her toward the other side of the room. He was hoping that he could herd her back out the window. “You are _such_ a little shit. We need to get out of here _now_.” She moved toward the window, and for one wonderful moment, Ronan thought she would soar right on through and he could leave and his neighbor would never know he had been there, and everything would be fine.

And then Chainsaw got tangled in the curtains.

“God damn Jesus fucking Christ,” Ronan spat, and he jumped up onto the couch and reached out to attempt to help the raven. He was rewarded with a sharp bite to his finger. “Shit.” When he pulled his hand back, there was blood. He shook his head; he could deal with that later. “Come on, just calm down,” he cooed as he reached out again, hoping to calm her a little so she wouldn’t wound him again. “It’s okay, let me help you. Just calm down.”

Chainsaw did not calm down; instead she thrashed even more wildly and began to screech, loudly. So loudly, in fact, that Ronan did not hear the apartment door open behind him.

“I think you’re in the wrong apartment,” came an unamused voice from across the room. Ronan froze.

Chainsaw chose that exact moment to finally untangle herself from the curtains and fly out into the night.

Slowly, cautiously, Ronan raised his hands in surrender and turned around. Standing just in front of the closed apartment door, arms folded across his chest, was Ronan’s beautiful neighbor. He had one perfect eyebrow arched, and his mouth was set in a neutral line, but, impossibly, Ronan thought he saw a flicker of amusement in the man’s eye.

Ronan figured he should apologize. Or explain. Probably both. Instead, he opened his mouth and the words that came out were, “You shouldn’t leave your window open.”

Beautiful Neighbor just blinked slowly. “But then, how would the hooligans get in?” he deadpanned.

Shame turned Ronan’s cheeks pink. He swallowed hard, and then swallowed again for good measure. “I’m Ronan Lynch,” he said, his mouth once again avoiding an apology. “I live next door.”

At this, Beautiful Neighbor nodded. “Yeah, I’ve seen you around,” he conceded. “I’m Adam Parrish.”

Adam Parrish. It was Ronan’s new favorite name. It was also strangely familiar. Understanding cut through Ronan like a knife. “Wait. Do you know Gansey?”

Adam nodded again, and then his eyes widened with realization. “Fuck. You’re Gansey’s Ronan, aren’t you?” His eyes flickered to the window. “That explains the bird.”

Ronan’s surge of arousal at Adam’s lips shaping the world _fuck_ was cut short by the phrase _Gansey’s Ronan_. He decided to focus on the third statement. “Gansey talks about Chainsaw?”

“Chainsaw?” Adam repeated. “Is that — actually, I don’t wanna know. He didn’t say you had a pet raven, but the way he talks about you, you’re a regular Disney princess when it comes to animals.”

Something like pride filled Ronan’s chest and mingled with his embarrassment. “Well, the way he talks about you, you’d think you two were engaged.”

Ronan immediately regretted his words. He hadn’t meant anything by it, not really, but it was pretty likely that Adam might take it wrong. What if Adam didn’t know that Gansey was bisexual? What if Adam was homophobic? What if —

Adam just snorted. He finally turned, walking to his refrigerator and opening it as he said, “I could say the same to you.”

“Psh,” said Ronan, because he didn’t really know what he was supposed to say. He watched Adam’s beautiful hand close around a water bottle. “I’m not exactly Gansey’s type.”

The refrigerator closed. Adam, carrying two water bottles, entered the living room space of his apartment and held a bottle out for Ronan before settling down on one side of his couch. “Are you saying I am?”

“No,” Ronan said immediately, and he sat on the other end of the couch but turned sideways to face Adam. “But you’re mine.” 

Oh, Jesus. Where had _that_ come from? He had just broken into this man’s apartment — not just any man, but Gansey’s work best friend — and he had been swearing at a half-feral bird when the guy walked in — not just any guy, but the hot guy he had been pining after in the hallways of their apartment building for the better part of a year — and now he was _hitting_ on him? Ronan must have gotten a concussion when he landed on the balcony. That was the only explanation.

Luckily, Adam did not seem angry or uncomfortable. If anything, he looked amused as he uncapped his water bottle, the corners of his mouth quirking up. “Did you just flirt with me after breaking into my apartment?”

Ronan tried and failed to formulate a response to that. Thankfully, his mouth seemed to be moving of its own accord these days. “Are you telling me I shouldn’t?”

Adam tilted his head back and took a long drink from his water bottle. Ronan tried not to stare too intently at the line of his jaw, the way his throat bobbed, the patchwork of light filtering across his face through his (somewhat shredded) curtains. Finally, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and said, “No, I’m not telling you that.”

A grin cut Ronan’s face. “I can’t believe Gansey didn’t tell me that _Adam Parrish_ , his best work friend, was so…” He waved his hands nonsensically in Adam’s direction. Adam raised his brows.

“Really?” he asked, voice dry. “Gansey failed to mention that I was a sarcastic work-a-holic with questionable taste in men?”

Ronan snorted. “No, he told me all of that. He just forgot to say that you were hot.”

It was hard to tell in the strange lighting filtering through the window, but Ronan was pretty sure he saw Adam blush. “Well, if it helps any, he never told me that you were hot, either.”

Ronan’s grin sharpened with his smugness. “That’s just like Gansey to leave out the most important detail of all,” he sighed, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “What _did_ he say, then?”

“He said that you’re the person he trusts most in the world,” Adam said without missing a beat. He was suddenly looking at Ronan, his eyes much more intense than they had been moments ago. “You’re good with animals, you grew up on a farm, you went to private school together, you’re a brother to him. You go to church. You love cars. You love your brothers more. You hate your phone, wearing a tie, and driving the speed limit. Oh, and you have shitty taste in music.”

There was suddenly a lump in Ronan’s throat. “He called my taste in music ‘shitty?’” he said instead of acknowledging it. 

The corner of Adam’s mouth twitched. “I believe he used the phrase ‘painfully unique.’ I paraphrased.” He tilted his head, letting his cheek rest against the back of the couch. “What did he say about me?”

Ronan considered. “You’re easily his favorite coworker. You’re the best in the department. You’re from Virginia, just like us. You’re funny, you’re the smartest person he knows, and you’re kind of quiet. You used to be a mechanic. You introduced him to Blue. You might be psychic, he’s still trying to figure it out. You politely decline all of his invitations to hang out outside of work, but he doesn’t think it’s because you don’t like him. Nothing phases you.”

For several seconds, Adam was very quiet, his eyes still fierce. Finally, he exhaled through his nose. “Well, I am a psychic, so you can tell him you solved that mystery.”

Ronan was suddenly overcome with the desire to kiss him. And because he was Ronan, he did.

He moved in slowly, carefully, giving Adam every chance to move away. Instead, when his hand came to rest lightly on the side of Adam’s face, the other man just closed his eyes and leaned in closer. Their lips brushed, feather light, and then Adam was tilting his head, deepening the kiss.

It was a sweet kiss, soft and chaste, but it also immediately struck Ronan as the most intimate act of his entire life. After several long, warm moments, he pulled back slightly, smiling, and raised a lazy eyebrow at Adam. “So,” he said, his voice gentle. “If you’re psychic, did you see that coming?”

Adam’s eyelids fluttered open, and he smiled back. “Trust me, nobody has ever seen you coming, Lynch.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked it! personally i kinda hated it, but i've had serious writer's block lately and haven't posted in a minute so i thought i'd share anyway. i hope you're all doing well and staying safe! as always, you're welcome to come interact with me on tumblr, i'm @wespers and i make gifs and love adam parrish 24/7 ♡


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